Bank Account Garnishments - Please advise

Has someone obtained a judgment against you? If so, they'd get a writ of execution to try and go after any personal accounts you might have.

ok..I know I signed in, but just in case...this is Swedishchick. THe only way your bank account can be garnished is if the court sends a demand/garnishment letter to the bank. Once the bank gets it, it gets sent to their legal department, and they take out the amount requested. If there is not enough in the account to satisfy the judgement, they take out everything in your account(s), but leave a penny. THere has to be an actual garnishment served to the bank, though. Just becuase you are sued doesn't mean a think to the bank. They have to be presented with the demand. Same as if the courts want financial info about your accounts and any banking you do. The bank will NOT release any info to the courts, or even police, without a warrent for the info. I hope this helps. When in doubt, talk to you business banker at your bank. Where do you bank, by the way? I work at a bank in Oregon.

No, LawStudent, there is no judgement against me. I am just preparing myself for the worst case scenario. I haven't even been sued yet, but I cannot afford the ridiculous payments the creditor's lawyers is asking for; again my getting ready for the worst.

Thanks for the info swedishgirl. I am guessing, from what LawStudent said, that only personal assets can be attached.

I'm in Arkansas. Midland Credit Managemnt had a law firm issue a writ of garnishmen on my bank account and I was already paying them. They used the information from the checking account that I was paying them with to take every cent out of my joint account with my husband account. I had bill payments items pending and everything bounced. I had to pay overdraft fees and still pay of the scheducled bill payments. In order to protect your funds, I would suggest you get your name off of your accounts before the vultures wipe you out. Take it from it totally sucks!

A garnishment only comes after being sued in small claims, domestic relations, civil proceedings, etc. Someone has to obtain a judgment against you. When garnishing a bank account each state has different rules of civil procedure that they must follow. Not all assets are subject to the garnishment. Having said that, if you are a co-signer on even your child's account that will get hit as well. When serving a bank a garnishment must be accompanied by a bank search fee to search for any and all account associated with your name. You will then receive a debtors package in the mail with a challenge, instructions, debt calculation and copy of the actual writ of garnishment in the mail to the last known address the creditor had for you.

can a company garnish one of your other business accounts that were not involved in doing business with them